Antioxidant Activity of Pistacia vera Fruits, Leaves and Gum Extracts

The side effects of synthetic antioxidants have been considered in different studies. Accordingly, there is an increasing interest toward the use of natural substances instead of the synthetic ones. In this study, the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Pistacia vera leaves and fruits as well as hydroalcoholic extract of gum were tested for a possible antioxidant activity using in vitro methods. Deoxyribose assay, erythrocyte membrane lipid peroxidation and liver misrosomal non- enzymatic lipid peroxidation tests were used as an in-vitro model for determination antioxidant activity. The extract were evaluated at different concentratios: 25,100, 250, 500 and 1000 µg/mL. In all procedures, all extracts showed free radical scavenging activity. The effect of ethanolic extract of P. vera fruit at 1000 µg/mL was quite similar to positive control (DMSO 20 mM) in deoxyribose method. In two other tests, the ethanolic extracts of fruits and leaves were more effective than the aqueous extracts to inhibit malondialdehyde generation. Phytochemical tests showed the presence of flavonoids and tannins in Pistocia vera extracts. The present study showed that extracts of different part of P. vera have antioxidant activity in different in vitro methods. The ethanolic extracts of leaves and fruits showed more roles for antioxidant properties and gum hydroalcoholic extract demonstrated less antioxidant effect.